JUST MERCY
An Amazing Mountain Journey
9th Haiti Trip – Vol. II
Most of the mountain mission team at Pensek, a beautiful place
We left early Monday morning, Sept. 5th, driving in Victory’s truck to the trail head at the river. The mules came to meet us and we loaded up our five and eight more hired to carry medical supplies for the cholera clinics and the medical clinic we were going to hold with Dr. Chris.
Yvrose on an easy part of the mountain trail going up
Bill took the Lindsey group the “short” way up the mountain while Yvrose and I traveled the longer route with the mules so we could ride. I could not possibly have gone without riding. Even so, it was an arduous trip rising over 3000 feet in 4 hours! The scenery was incredible! The trail was rocky and steep with the saddle continually slipping back on the mule!
We finally arrived at Robia, the site of one of our cholera clinics, meeting the group that hiked up. I was tired and sore and thought it had to be 5 pm in the evening! Not so! It was only noon! We went ahead and set up the “pharmacy” on two benches in the local church building using the medicines Terry Gribble had sent over just after the earthquake but which had failed to arrive in the five weeks she was here. They were finally being used to help the people.
The conditions were primitive. No showers, only a bucket to wash with and we were grateful for that!! No bathrooms. Only a concrete latrine that was NOT clean and I was grateful for that! (For some, bushes were better.)
Dr’s office on the left. Pharmacy on the right
There had never been a doctor in this village before and people came from far and near. Dr. Chris Konsavage was incredible! With several Haitian friends going with us, he was able to have someone interpreting for him at all times. I was amazed at his patience with the people and also with us as we interrupted him with questions. We had hired a couple of Haitian nurses to help also.. They took the patients statistics, temp, blood pressure, etc. Jared Lindsey, who aspires to be a doctor, also helped get the stats. Then Dr. Chris checked them out, prescribing what they needed with help from our Haitian medical student friend, Jolius. Michel Bouffard (who blessedly spoke French!), Rebekah, and Caleb Linsdsey dispensed the medicines. Aslan Konsavage, Matt Hingle, and our Haitian “daughters”, Sherlie, NoNo, and Cassandra, rotated around helping wherever they could. Before each patient left, Manolo and Juani prayed with them which, as Dr. Chris pointed out, was probably the most important thing that was done for them.
We treated 30-40 patients the first afternoon and over 180 the second day. We closed up the clinic about 1 pm, packed up and hiked the two hours to Pensek, the site of our 2nd cholera clinic. It was such a beautiful hike along the ridge of the mountains with amazing vistas on either side. The clouds were building as we walked and the storm broke just as we reached the door of the “church” in Pensek.
Bill passing out vitamins at the end of the clinic
We set up the pharmacy the next morning and proceeded to treat another 144 people. We started running out of many medicines about noon so we shut down the clinic, unfortunately leaving many people unseen. But Bill went out and passed out prenatal vitamins to all the pregnant women who were still waiting. Since we had stopped early enough, we packed up and headed back down the mountain though we had intended to stay another night.
It was a grueling hike back out of the mountains, 3 hours down STEEP rocky trails and then two hours through a rocky riverbed. It was dark by the time we got to the trailhead, exhausted and sore. After the ride back home in the truck, they had to practically carry me into the house as my knees had nearly quit working! Everyone was hurting. But no one was sorry they had gone.
We had done something no one else had done, taken medical care to a couple of remote mountain villages which had never seen a doctor. We passed out prenatal vitamins to dozens of pregnant women in a region where the infant mortality rate is 50 – 80%! We had tried to bring the love of Jesus to the people. We had prayed for each and every one who had received medical help. We had shared God’s Word, setting up the “Proclaimers” speaking the Bible in Creole for the waiting people at each clinic and leaving them with the nurses at the cholera clinics to be played each day for the cholera patients.
Sonel delivered the cholera clinic reports. From June 1st to Aug. 28th, our two mountain CTC’s treated 419 patients. That is 419 people who did not have to make that arduous hike down the mountains (while being violently ill) that we made yesterday (which I barely survived and I wasn’t sick!!) on which some would have died. We believe this has been a huge thing to do for the people there. Without all the donated tents and medical supplies and the financial contributions that have paid the nurses, it would not have been possible.
The people are glad we are there, saving lives, and caring for them. Our main source of cholera supplies has dried up. Please pray that God helps us find another organization willing to donate the needed medical supplies and that hearts would be willing to donate to us so we can continue paying the nurses, making it worth it for them to stay in the primitive conditions there and minister to the people.
May God bless you all.